r n r o t he hearts of
:r u'hich most are
::nark ruling. The
,enr. Agenrscould
Esquivel and
r mmigratio n
<<Four
>>
UNDER COLOR OF LA}V
The Fight for Racial Equality
Negroesare nor
of anyrhing any more than anyone else.Negroes
in
the Navy ,.lj,TiO"f.r"iqlo,ading
jusr wanr ro knoiv why
"-irunitiotJh"y
theyare'hr:r_t_I
o".es
doinfcheroading!
Tf,"yir",rrroknow*r.f rrr.f
are segregared,
why rhey don'r ger promored.
-Tlturgood Marsltail on the port chrcagodisaster,
1944
Bridger "Biddy" Mason was a hardy woman. Born
on Augusr 15, 1g1g, mosr likely in
Georgia, she had known slavery all of her life when
in 1g47 her owner, Robert Smirh,
a Mormon convert' decided to move his household
from Mississippi ro utah. Mason
made the seven-month,two-thousand-mile journey
mostly on foor, while herding
smith s cattle, caring for her own three daughters (one
of whom was an infant), and
attending to rhe birrhs of at leasrthree children.
After a fervyearsin utah, Smith decidedin 1851 join
to
a wagon rrain of one hundred and fifty Mormons bound for Sar-rBernardino,
where Brigham young u,as initiating a Mormon way station. The thirty-rwo-year-o1d
Mason once again journeyed
acrossinhospirable terrirory, again likely on foor,
ro rhe Golden Srare.
Even though california entered the union
as a free srare,slavery existed wirhin t.
its borders' Slaveowners who had arrived in
California before Seprember 1g50 were
aliowed to keep their slavesas indentured servanrs.
''-/
Hundreds of black siavestoil"i
in mines; others worked to buv their freedom.
Some slavehoi,iers,including Mason,s
owner' openly flouted the antislavery law because,
as one of them said, ,,No one will
put themselvei iol-fie f;*bF.rinvesrigating
rhe marrer.,,Some newspapers e'en
posted advertisementsfor che sale of slaves.
r23
UNDER CO LO R O F LAW
The state legislature passeda Fugitive Slave Law in 1852, which allowed slave
owners from other states to caprure runaways who had escapedto California. Although the law lapsed in 1855, continual legislarive efforts ro passa law prohibiting black immigration into the state sent chills through California's small black
community. Many migrated to Canada, fearing they mighr orherwise be forced out
of the state.
Having arrived in California, Robert Smith esrablisheda cartle ranch in the small
town of Los Angeles.But in 1855, after a land dispute with Mormon leaders,he de-
f
I
California, the judge declared
Mason and her daughcersfree.
Mason started working as a
midwife and nurse in Los Angeles. After ten years,she had saved
two hundred and fifty dollars and
bought land amidst vineyards
and vegetable gardens on Spring
cided to move his household to Texas. Mason, however, did nor wanr ro go. While
in Los Angeles,Mason'seldest daughter,seventeen-year-oldEllen, had fallen in love
Street between Third and Fourth
with Charles Owens, son of Bob Owens, a well-known African American residenr of
Los Angeles who ran a successful corral. Biddy Mason had shared with the younger
town. She pariayed her real estate
Owens her fear about Srnith's intended move to Texas.Owens rold his father of rhe
plan, and rhe rwo men determined to free Mason and her family.
markable at the time for anyone,
In anticipation of their departure for Texas,rhe Smirh party camped in a dusty
canyon of the Santa Monica Mountains, waiting for another slavein the group to give
can woman. She used her wealth
birth. Along wich at leastone sheriffi Bob Owens and a band of his vaquerossurprised
i
U N D E R C OLOR OF LA W
Streets, in the outskirts of the
holdings into wealth that was re-
let alone a single African Ameri-
to feed and clothe the destitute in
her neighborhood and helped ro
Smith' Owens petitioned for a writ of habeascorpus for Mason and her children. The
sheriff spirited Mason and her daughcersto the counry jail, where he housed rhem for
found the Los Angeles branch of
their own protection. In January 1856, their casewenr before Disrricr Court
Judge
Benjamin Hayes.
copal Church.
the First African Methodist EpisDespite a ban against slavery in the 1849 state consntutnn,
&tt1
rrr1852theyearafterBiddy tri:!";:::;!,:#fi:';::ftn";fr(1,:'J:l,,i,j;t,he
When confronted in court, Smith claimed thar his slaveswere members of his
family, and that they were voluntarily going with him to Texas.Within rhe political and legal climate of 1856, it took determined courage for a slaveto challenge a
cd StatesSupreme Court ruled in
siaveholderin court. Not only was Mason bucking hundreds of yearsof slave-master
Po*". relations, she also cor-rfronteda legal barrier: California law prohibired the tes-
U.S.cirizetrs,and that blacks "had no rights which the white man was boun.{ t,,
timony of any person with half or more Negro blood (aswell as Indians and Chinese)
t" courr casesinvolving whires.
To get around rhe ban,ludge Hayes askedMason to speak ro him privately in his
chambers. She told him, "l have always done what I have been told to do; I always
feared this trip to Texas,since I first heard of it. Mr. Smith rold me I would be
iust as
free in Texasas here."
On the second morning of the trial, without informing her, Mason'.s:lrr()rncv
abandoned the case.When he was subpoenaedby the judge, thc lawycr rcvc:rlt,,l
that Smith and his:rttorney had bribed him a hundred dollars to drop rhc c.usr,.'l'lrr.
sight of the bereft Mason and her children in the courtr()()nrlr-()ss(.(lrlrr.irrtl11t.'',
syn-rpathy.
Ittrlirlg rlt:rrSrrritltlrlttl{ - I iv ertr p lr is r ir llr t r o, , s ' r r t . r ' r lr ip . l 's l . r r t . r . , n , ,l .l ( . ( . r r ( . r ( . ( l
Mason won her freedom, the Unit-
Masonherfreedoi.Shebecame
o ,nialthlproprrr1
grartted
ozuner
andphilanthroptst
m LosAngeles'
tlre infamous Dred Scor decision that slavesor descendantsof slavescould not bc
l-espect."
That same year, an eighteen-year-oldblack man named Archy Lee madc :r vcry
tlif fcrent kind of history in California. Lee had traveledoverland from a Mississippi
l.luntation with a man who claimed to own him, Charles Stovall.The trip was :rrrlrr.rrs; $ge1,2ll'.s
oxen team gaveout and the pair crossedthe Sierra Nevadaon foot. Wlrcrr
tlrcy arrived in Sacramentoin the fall, Stovall,low on fur-rdsand frail in health, lrirc'.|
[.t't'ottt firr wages.Stovall also opened a private school,advertising ir-rthc krcal 1'r,r1'r.'r'.
,\ srr-rallbut active black communitv lived in northern Califrrrnia. M:rrrv lrt'r'
l '1 , rl,i s l t r c l c o t ncto th c sta tcd r - r r i n eth c g o l d r u sl i ,se ttl i n gl a r cr i n th c r r o w i r r l i tr r l ,,r n
r ( n t ( 'l 'so f 'S a t t Ir r a tr ci scoS:tcr
,
i r r n ctr to
l r,n clSto ckto n ,u ,h cr c tl r cv b ct'a r n cn r i r r i stcr s,
:r ttd l l tl - ,o r cr s.
SIr i Pstl r l r t tl o ckcr l i r r S;r r rl ;r .;r nitsto 't
I 't o I t i c t o t 's, r l sttt:tl ll r ttsi ttcsscs,
l , , t t l ', r tl r t . , , t t t ] ltt
n r .l n \',\fl 'i tl r n ;\tn ct'i tl tr r ( r '( '\\'r ) l ( 'n ) l r t't- s.SIr o r l l r ';r l 't.'l 'tl r cr
r rlr r,ll r..l
,
t l r , l 'l . r . . Lt o n u n u n tl t l ,r tn tt.l tl r t'l r r .r r r ,.
l r r r ..'l .t'.r i i r r t.1 '1 'r 'l r .r
tl r|.,
..'l i r \t ( l \r l r r i i l r t'
UNDER CO LO R O F LAW
U N D ER C OL OR OF L AW
group in the state,which broadenedinto the California Colored Convention in 1855.
Subscriptions to Frederick Douglass's abolitionisr newspaper North,srar numbered
court recognizedthat Stovall was clearly not a "visitor" to California, us lrc lr;r,l\('l ulr
fifty in San Francisco,a ciry with only one thousand African Americans.
, When slave owner Stovall evenrually decided he preferred llfe in Mississippi and
planned to return with his slave co the plantation, he mer grear resiscancefrom the
African American community. Archy Lee was given refuge at Hotel Hackett, a Sacramento rooming house owned by free blacks. Stovall tracked him down and had him
jailed. Immediately, one of the hotel proprietors filed a pecirion for a wrir of habeas
corpus to get Lee released.
The Sacramento courtroom of )udge Robert Robinson was packed with specablack and white. There were no black lawyers in California, bur the com-
a school and hired Lee out for pay.
But in a surprising twist that outragedmany Californians,Jusriccllurrrcrr torrcluded that although Stovall was not entitled to claim Lee as his propcrry, rhc (()r1rl
would nonethelessorder Lee'sreturn to Stovall becauseit was "the first c:lscrllilr (xcurred under the existing law....and under thesecircumscanceswe are n<lt disposr',|
to rigidly enforce the rule for the firsr rime."
Lee'sbid for freedom in a free sratewas rhwarted.
The men of the Colored Convention were determined to liberate Lee.Worc'lsPrc.rr,l
that Stovall planned to put Lee on a ship leaving San FranciscoBay.Volunrccrs fi'.,rrr
tors-both
the African American community kept warch on the wharves. Stovall had hid.l..rr
munity had raised money for Lee's legal representarion. One of his chief financial
suPPorterswas Mary Ellen Pleasant, herself a former slave,who had become one of
the richest women in San Francisco.She had arrived from Nantucket in rhe gold rush
Lee on a small boat anchored off Angel Island, planning to rransfer him ar niglrt r,,
years with fifteen thousand dollars in gold coins (a legacy she received after her firsr
husband died)and wisely investedher money while conrinuing to work asa cook'and
the Panama-bound Onzaba.
But this time the slaveowner was thwarted.The black patrols had obraincd a u'rir
of habeascorpus from County ludge T \il Freelon and alerted the sherifTof rhcir
plan. As Stovall'sboat approachedthe ship, he was servedwirh a warranr for holdirrs
domestic. She bought and began operating a fashionable boardinghouse bordering
San Francisco'splaza rhat cateredto the political elite.
a slave.Lee was taken into custody.The Orizaba sailed wirhour thern.
ludge Robinson granred the writ, but as soon as Lee was released,he was rearrested and led back co jail. His putative owner had succeededin gerring a new w:lr-
counseledludge Freelon chat "chereis in the life of every man a rime to'makc lri,
rant from California Supreme Courr lustice David Terry.
Though Lee'ssupporters were stunned, rhey eventually determined thar goirrg
to the statesuPremecourt might clarify the state'ssranceon slavery in Californi:r:
cstate ir-rtowhich it had fallen." The courrroom and the halls ourside werc ;rack..,l
rvith supportersand opponents of slavcry.
statelaw permitted slaveholders"in transit" to maintain ownership of their sla,",t.s
while in California. Lee's friends were confident they could prove thar Srovall
was not a transient and therefore could not claim ownership of Archy l,cc. 'l'lrt.
atmosphere was tense.Of the three justices on the California Supreme Courr, r rr,,,
Tension was high :rs the casereturned co court. One San Francisco ncwspalx'r
Inark"'and called or-rhim to free Lee and restorethe stateconstitution from "thc lou
Lee'snew attorney was the well-known Qraker Edward D. Baker,an abolitionisr
orator and personal friend of Abraham Lincoll. Baker argued that the earlicr srutt.
sllPremecourt judgment should not hold, becauseit had not properly been brorrslrt
as an aPpeal.He thundered, "fChief Justice]Burnett said he would set asiderl'rc(lorrstitution and the law becauseStovall was ignorant of our law. God Almighry scrs ;r
were proslavery: Chief Iustice Terry, who later served as a brigadier gcncr.:rl rrr
the Confederatearmy, and AssociateJusticePeter H. Burnett, who, as Califirr-rri,r'.'
prcmium on knowledge; the Supreme Court offers a reward for ignorancc."Srovul[',
first governor, had repeatedly proposed legislation ro exclude free blacks fl".rn r lrt.
state.Only Associatelustice Stephen l. Field, a Connecticur-born lawvcr, opp.r.'t..1
l'r-ecdorn.
slavery.
l;t':ttrci.sco.
Bur as cheyleft the courtroom, U.S.marshals seizedLce :rrrdtixrk lr irrr lr;rtli
T he Feb rua ry 7 1, 1 858, r uling m ay be one of t he m o . s rc r r r i o u s : r r r rrl l i s r r r r l , r r r l :
I:tu,yerdid not object.Iudge Freelon overturned the earlier ruling and dcclar-crl1......,
A rhrorrg of supporterswaswaicing to paradeArchy Lce througl'r rhc srrccrsol'S.rrr
tttto ct-tstodl'.
Srt-rvall,
a.ssuminghe might not prevail agair-rst
Lcc'.spnrnirrcrrr lrnvvt'r,
decisionsin the court's early history. "ln our view," Iusticc llurrrcrr \\,r-()t(..,r nr(.r(
visitor is one who comesonly for pleasureor health, and w,hocngrrllcsirr rr,,l'u\rn( ,,..
,r pt'osl;tvcrvbackgrorrncl.
while here,and remainsonly for a reasonabletirr-rc.
. .lf thc l)crs()n (.r)[.ll](.\irr l,rn rrr...,,.
hirnsellore mplo yshissl av eit r at r y br r s inc s s c \ ( ' ( ' l) t . lt r ( .n ( l i l ) 1 1 r r 1 r , , r r l r i s | t . r \ (l)rn. .r r r
\ , r t i o t t l t l l r t r q i ti vcS[;r vt'L l tr i '.'l 'l tt'Kt'r r tr r t'l i t'- l r lo) l(r'rr r ) ( ) ( 'r - i lrt.r ;r b l o u 'to Sto r ':r l .r
l n ,l
f anrilv,hc filrfcits th e c'l t ar ut ' t er
of ' r ' is it or r r r r . .lrl is s lr r v t is
. t . r r t i r l t . ,tl , l r t . t . , l , , r "r r I l '
t r t l r t 'r s r v l r , , r r '.r r rrln,lr p .rtsl
r ,r vt'rvr o ( .,r l r l i r r r r i ,r .st;r tt'r l ."l tr t't'r r r r .l r r 'r ( ) r ) \tr ( ) u \( l ( xl n n
t
lr;r..l
brotrght l-risclaim to U.S.CommissionerGeorgePcn Johnston,a sorrrltclrrr.r'
u'ir lr
f o l r r r s t o rsr
r r r 'Pr i scrl llr r l n vb v r e i ccti n gSto va l l l scl a i n r tl r a t L ce \\';l svi o l r r r i r r rrl l r t.
( ( , l ( ) N 0l
t'l l l tt l l ( ( r l ( r l t ( f l I tr t
| 111
t het onorrcaflicl;n'itlfi'o nr St or ' : r ll, r r llc gir r g1. . ' t ' I res
; r il( ill x ( l t l r r r . r r i r r \ l i 's r ''r p p r
I
shor-rldscnd :r tnrrnclff tr>bc takcn to anotlrer stittcas lt slrn'c...."
l .tq sr r r t.( ) r r r ttr l ,ttrl i .r r l t,,,r ,.l
t ( . \ l ) ( ) 1 \ ( . {(r)l r 1 ..
;r tr tr l r r ..lr t\ ( ( ) r r ( l tt(( ( ) t\ ,ttl to tl l r 1 .1 t1 q r l
q ,l r 1 ( '( ( \\.l l '\'( ( )l ) l '( ) t( ( t\\'l l i tt'r vt) l l l ( l l ,l l r tlt l r r l ,l r .tr r r l t,'
l 'g l ( 'q .l ti t,tr
i r r g t l r ; r t r , r , . i . r\(
The commllnity held a ruictory celebratior-rar-rdfour-rdil secLrrchon-rcfirr [,cc lt tlrt'
r t r i g l r tl r t . l t . r r ;l 'r r9l f r i .l i r r g si r l cl l y si r l esi tl r r r r r .,\fj 'i tr l lil\ttl ( 'l i ( .l l l ,,l l l .l l g ( l l l r ( r r ttl r ,r t
tr t i r t N o vcr r tl tcrIl i ( r J,.t S.tttl i l .l l t,.tt,,'
tr scr lto i tr sti fy s1 3 g r cg a ti ol l t.
\ \ , : l sc ( ) r ) l n l , , r r l V
fashionable bo:rrdinghouseof Mary Ellen Pleasant,u'l'ro the fbllor,ving1'car lrclpc.l
l l rc.l
o r vl t,l ,tttt,ttl .'tol il r t ( ( l r l \
s t r p c r i o r c ( ) L lrj ut d g er e j cctccl th i sr ca so n i n g a r tcl a r va r cl
finance ]ohn Brown'.sraid on Harper's Ferry.
(thc strcctcarfirrc)plus lcgal costs.
This time, Archy Lee was really frec.Thc fbrmcr sllvc u,ascarricclof'f lilit'u Itt'r'o.
Diszrgreements
benveen the California Supreme Court justiccs n,ho orisinallv
determined Archy Lee'.sfate lasted for decades.Though Chief Justice David Ti:rrv
joined the Confederatearmy, he returned to California after the Civil \ihr and scttlcd
in Stockton. In 1888 JusticeStephen Field, who by then was a federal judgc, hcard
a case involving Terrv'-ssecond u,ife, ruling againsr her. Months later, the two former colleaguesmet by chance in a railroad station,where Terry slappedField. Fieldls
bodyguard shot and killed thc former cl-riefjustice.
A Century before Rosa Parks
Bv 1863 African Americ:ins had won their right to tesrify in court, and a few vears
later,Mary Ellen Pieas:rntand Charlottc Brorvn exercisedthat right rvhen thev sucd
two San Frartciscostrcctcarcompartics()vcrscgrcgation.
African Arnericarr comCharlotte L. Brou,n was u.ell knon,n in San Francisccl'.s
r-rorimrnediatclytrartslatcitrtocltrtttt{c.\\ritltirr..l.rt
Hcrsucccssir-rcourt.thouglr,did
'
IIr.'
ofthejudgmcr-rt,anotherstreetcarconductorforcedBrowtrartdhcrfirthcrfroltt.t..tt.
renaciousBrown brought another lawsuit.And in C)ctober1U64.l)istrict (irtrrt f tr,hl,'
C. C. Pratt ruled that San Franciscostreetcarsegrcgationrvasillegal. Hc strttccl:
Ir has been already quite too long tolerated by the dornitratrt rllcc to sc('
with indifference the negro or mulatto treatedasa brute, ir-rsultcd,w'rttttsctl,
enslaved,made to wear a yoke,to tremble beforewhite men, to scrvchitn rtt
a rool,ro hold property and life at his will, to surrenderto him his irrtcIlctt
to sealhis lips and belie his thought through clrcaclof'
and consci"t-r..,
"ttd
the white uan's power.
A ;ury awardedBrorvn five hundred dollars, a tenth of the five thousrttrclslt.' lr,r,l
sought in damages.
The iudgmenr generatedracist editorials in the San FranciscoPaPcrs.And tlespitt'
the legal vicrory, African Americans in the cirv still '*'ound up u'alking to the ir tlt'stt -
muniry: her mothcr, (lharlotte Brown, born a free woman in Baltimore, had rvorked
n:rtionsafter streetcardrivers refused to stop for them.
as a seamstressto buy thc freedom of hcr husband, James.Wher-rthe couple tnoved
to San Francisco, Jamesopened a stable and cofbun ded Mircor of the Times,one of thc
Orre of rhem was Mary Ellen Pleasant.ln l 866, rhree yearsafler Charlottc llr, trt t t't
lawsuirs,a conductor on the North Beach Municipai Railroad refused to pick tll) t lr('
first African American ne\\'spapersin the statc.Arr ar-rti.sla\/er\/
crllsader,Brown also
.l,rll,rr''
tall, middle-agedwoman. She sued,ar-rda jury arvardedPleasantfive l-rr.rnclrcc'l
raised funds for Archy Lee.
in punitive damages.
appointment on Howard Street.When tl-reOmnibus Railroad car stoppedon frilbert
The streetcarcompany appealedthe decision to the Califon-ria Strprcrnc(lottt't.
'l'he high court ruled streetcarexclusion basedon race u'as unlawful, but it rtlso I'.'-
Street,she entered from the rear platform. There were only rhree orher passengers,
scindedthe damagepayment to Pleasant,since there \^/asno proof "to shou'u'illl'trl
and she took a seat midway down the car. A conductor ordered her off. As llrown
irrir-rryi'orany proof rhat the streetcarcompany had a policy of excluding bllt'ks.
recalled, "l told him I had been in the habit of riding ever since the cars l-radbccn
running. He answered,colorcd persons are not allowed to ridc and I would havc to
The lawsuits succeededin changing the racist practice:l)o morc storics:tlrortl
srrcercarexclusior-rappearedin the local black press,u,hich i-radreported all stt..'ltitr
get out .'
vigilantly.ln 1893 the legislatureenacteda statewideprohibitioll oll strc('t(,rr
r.iclcnrs
As tl-resun \\rassctting or-rApril 1 Z, 1863, Brown left her residencefor a doctor's
Brown refr-rsed
to lcave.For three r-norestops,the conductor tried to cjecr hcr.
scgrcgationand exclusion.
Finally, Brorvn recalled,"He took l-roldof me, by the left arrrl, somcwhcrc. I nre.lc
no resistancezrshe had taker-rme by the arrn. I kneu, it was of no Llscto rcsist, untl
Scparatebut Equal?
therefore I went out, ar)d he kept hold of me until I was out of tl-rccar. liolclinrr ()r) t()
l i rr-rrel rrl t':l (' c ntrl r\,.(l l l i l i rrni ;r
me until I struck the rvalk."
..l,,ll;rr't.
for tu'o lrrrrr..lrt'.'l
Irr
L,trcour:rged
by hcr fatl'rcr,Bror,vnsued thc c()r'nl)alrv
t3 ll
rrr l ttrl tIi r st l t< t,,l t.
l ,ru' :tl l ou,c c {fi l r;rl rc l c v el t l l ttl l )(l rttc tl rl tt' i l tl s r.' qt' r' tl rtttotr